Social Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Social Psychology - Essay Example As an amalgamation of what has historically been two disparate and distinct fields of inquiry, social psychology blends the two scholarly realms and provides a new perspective on such issues as social cognition, the individual within society as well as the role that individuals plays in shaping their wider environment. The perception of individuals is very important from a social psychological standpoint and this field allows scholars and researchers to undertake their inquiry from an interdisciplinary approach. Thus, from a social psychological perspective, the perception of individuals can be shaped by both internal psychological factors as well as the social environment. Sociology is a field which has traditionally focused group dynamics and behaviors. Psychology, on the other hand, is a field which is primarily concerned with the individual and the mental motivating factors in explaining thoughts and behaviors. From the perspective of social psychology then, the formation of soci al identity is the result of both social and psychological factors. Individual cognitive behavior influences social identity as does the environment one is raised in, the people he/she grows up with and social identity can be seen as a mixture of these forces (Baron 3-44). Social psychology, as a field of inquiry, has much to say about perceiving groups, norms and behaviors. Accordingly, social psychology looks at these concepts and sheds light onto both the social and psychological features of these issues. Accordingly, Discrimination is described as the prejudicial treatment of others based upon certain real or perceived characteristics. It is generally done on the basis of race, colour, sex, age, language, sexual orientation, religion and/or disability. Discrimination is often based upon pre-held beliefs, judgments and stereotypes about people and

Sociology 1006E Working Poor in Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sociology 1006E Working Poor in Canada - Essay Example no particular poverty lines, which makes hinders the efforts to identify the appropriate interventions to reduce poverty among the most vulnerable groups (McQuillan & Ravanera, 66). Lee observes that poverty rose by 28.6% between 1990 and 1995 when there was a notable increase (6.1%) in the country’s total population (57). This increase was far more than economic growth in the country within that period. The metropolitan urban areas such as Montreal and Vancouver among others are inhabited by majority of the poor. Poverty among children and the youth, the aged and women is high which is indicator of the impact of poverty in the country due to the fact that children and the youth are the majority in the nation’s population. Majority of people with low levels of education such as below secondary are poor, even though there are more than 8% of poor people in cities who have attained post secondary education. The level of skills is also a major determinant of the poverty prevalence in the country, with the people with low skills being vulnerable to poverty (Beaujot & Kerr, 78). The country is faced with extensive layoffs as well as a reduction in permanent employment, downsizing in companies and declining social assistance rates. These have contributed to the rising levels of poverty. Globalization has significantly contributed to these occurrences especially with the improvements in communication, transport network as well as liberalization of trade, which has led to increased competition for the Canadian industries. Investors shifted their investment to the third world countries that apart from the low competition provide cheap labor compared to the Canadian labor force. This led to the closure of most companies in the country, thereby reducing employment opportunities especially for the unskilled labor (Liu & Kerr, 116). Moreover, there is an increasing trend towards computerization of most operations in many organizations, which is another major factor that